1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus for laying out person images, which have been obtained by photographing a plurality of persons, and forming a layout image, such as a school photo. This invention also relates to a recording medium, on which a program for causing a computer to execute the image processing method has been recorded and from which the computer is capable of reading the program.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Album prints, typically school photos, are formed by laying out person images, which have been obtained by photographing persons, in predetermined layouts, thus obtaining layout images, and printing the layout images. As illustrated in FIG. 5, if the person images are merely laid out in a layout image comprising the person images, positions and/or sizes of face patterns of the persons will vary for different person images, and the layout image will become unsightly. Therefore, it may be considered to take photographs such that the positions and/or the sizes of the face patterns of the persons in the photographs may be uniform. However, in cases where photographs of a plurality of persons are taken, considerable time and labor are required to take the photographs by changing the position of the camera in accordance with the heights of the persons and/or the sizes of the faces of the persons. Also, the position of the camera with respect to the persons varies for different cameramen and different dates of photographing. Accordingly, it is difficult to take the photographs such that the positions and/or the sizes of the face patterns of the persons in all of the photographs may be uniform.
Therefore, in cases where a layout image is to be formed, when operations for printing from sheets of negative film, on which person images have been recorded, are performed, the positions of the sheets of negative film and/or the positions of photosensitive materials have heretofore been adjusted such that the positions and/or the sizes of the face patterns of the persons may be uniform among the images. Alternatively, a layout image has heretofore been formed by laying out person images, which have been obtained by performing a trimming process such that the positions and/or the sizes of the face patterns of the persons may be uniform. As another alternative, a layout image has heretofore been formed by printing person images to a comparatively large size, arraying the prints of the person images such that the positions of the face patterns of the persons may be approximately uniform, and again performing the photographing operation.
However, with the technique for forming a layout image by adjusting the positions of the sheets of negative film and/or the positions of the photosensitive materials and performing the printing operations, and with the technique for forming a layout image by arraying the printed images again performing the photographing operation, the efficiency of the layout image formation and the productivity of the layout images cannot be kept high.